Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Click, Click Clicking at the Ponds

We stumbled upon a sweet family of fourteen nestled along the shore of the Click Ponds last week. I took a few photos from my car window as we did not want to disturb them. Black-bellied Whistling Ducks are late breeders in Florida, but this seems really late.

I love the stripes on these ducklings. It's amazing how different they look from the adults.

Seeing these tiny little ducklings go bottoms up was too funny.

The birds at the ponds are pretty sparse these days. A Little Blue Heron, numerous Greenies, and a handful of Pied-billed Grebes...

And this Killdeer that was standing in path, and did not want to move.

I walked along the heavily vegetated exterior to see what creepy crawlers were lurking.

There were several of these Gulf Fritillary caterpillars munching away.

Not exactly a fuzzy caterpillar...

I also saw this Gulf Fritillary that was still drying its wings.

There are so many different species of dragonflies buzzing around the ponds right now.

Tammy, your pictures are a visual treat :) The ducklings are steal-worthy, too cute for words and there are so many of them! The heron is a gorgeous colour, made more interesting as it looks like it's standing on some bright pool floaties. The Killdear has such huge fawn-like brown eyes. The caterpillar in your first photo looks as if he's doing a happy dance, his pumpkin-coloured body straight up in the air, black hands splayed out against that perfect swirly, lime-green blade of grass in the background. What a delight!

Tammy, they are so awesome cute, you were great with your tele not disturbing them. It is incredible how they are spotted, and they look so soft!!! Beautiful the heron, so the insects.. but the macro of the dragonfly is my favorite: the colours of the eyes and the sharpness. it's always a miracle to see the perfection of the nature!have a nice week,Dany

Sitting and watching those little baby ducklings are certainly good for the heart and the spirits. So cute! As the cooler temperatures sneak up on us here in Saskatchewan we see less and less birds. Soon just the sparrows and the nuthatches will be the only ones left to entertain me!

Hello Tammy,What a lovely shots of all these little ducks. It's so funny to see so much of them at this time of the year.The shot of the hungry Heron is fantastic!! Great pose on that plant in the water with nice colors.